Nea studio, an award-winning specialist in interior design and architecture from New York, just launched an innovative new collection featuring sconces and chandeliers made with algae.
Founded by Nina Edwards Anker in 2006, nea studio’s philosophy is guided by eco-responsibility. The studio’s newest collection is made from locally sourced marine algae that took the studio eight years to find.
Luxury Material
Algae is fast becoming a go-to luxury material used by high-end designers around the world. Especially in the interior design sector, ecologically friendly materials that can help to step back from plastics and wood contributing to pollution and deforestation, are a growing trend.
In terms of sustainability, algae is a superior choice to most conventional materials used in furniture and lighting. As a translucent and renewable material, algae meets the needs of an environmentally conscious design lover.
Although the project for the algae collection began in 2014, the New York studio struggled to source its raw material from a local provider. Now, eight years later, nea can source the algae from a local seafood shop in Brooklyn. “Now that the algae is so easily accessible, we continue to try out new material combinations and configurations,” says Edwards Anker.
According to nea studio, translucent algae spread light across any space, while frames made of brass or bronze with a golden tone reflect the LED bulbs to create an even cozier light. As LED lighting technology advances, the color spectrum will also expand.
Commenting on the development process of the new collection, Edwards Anker says: “In an increasingly high-tech global world, I’m inspired by local organic materials with known origins, which are familiar and connect to the natural world. The idea of the lamps originated from a PhD research project about materials and light. I had been searching for biomaterials that were translucent and locally sourced to filter and soften the light of LED bulbs.”
